The dance industry in Singapore is increasingly vibrant with various dance groups representing different races and cultures performing in a wide variety of genres. There were almost 500 dance performances in 2003 compared to 112 in 1993.
Leading professional dance company Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) and contemporary dance groups such as The Arts Fission Company, Odyssey Dance Theatre, EcNad Project Ltd and Ah Hock & Peng Yu have actively contributed to the vibrancy of the scene. Ah Hock & Peng Yu's world premiere of Peng Yu was one of the highlights of the 2004 Singapore Arts Festival. Odyssey Dance Theatre has represented Singapore at the ASEAN Festival of Arts while SDT (together with Japanese company H. Art Chaos) performed Le Festin d'Immortalite, one of the 2003 Singapore Arts Festival's key commissions.
The ethnic dance scene in Singapore is equally dynamic with a strong focus on dance training and education. Some of the active groups include Bhaskar's Arts Academy, Dance Ensemble Singapore and Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts Ltd. Sri Warisan's Artistic Director Madam Som bte Said provided artistic direction for Gentarasa 2004, a multi-disciplinary extravaganza that was part of the 2004 Singapore Arts Festival's Outreach Programme.
Many schools in Singapore have also incorporated dance as one of the core curriculum activities and various dance courses are available at community centres. Other popular dance genres include funk, hip-hop, jazz and Lindy-hop and social dance.
Today, there are over 30 dance companies and societies in Singapore. Various assistance and development resources are available to develop the local dance industry at all levels - from the budding dancer and emerging dance company, to the professional dancer or dance company: